Match #39 (23 Aug 09): Another Abysmal Performance = Another Loss

It has become a familiar sight of late. That was the opening statement in last report and it is just as applicable for this week. Our performance of late is anything but decent. All the pre-match warm-up and thunderous shots at goal were at best flattering to deceive. Perhaps, we are just that, the pre-match team. During the match, the team is standing on foundation made of sand, anything but solid.

We could not complain of playing against a younger team as some of Selangor Lookalikes players were more senior than us and to be fair, our average age seemed to be lower than theirs. They are not a skilful team but they are superior in movement into space, passing and most important of all, teamwork. In the opening 10 minutes when they were playing with 1 man short, it did not seem that way as they controlled the game with ease and seized the lead. We might blame it on the small pitch but we should not have given their midfielder the world of his time to shoot from just after the centre line. All along, we thought only Kian Hwa, if as keeper, could not deal with high ball but Gan, our stand-in keeper, assured KH that it was normal to concede such a goal. Gan failed to deal with the long shot and the ball dipped just below the bar for their opening goal. 1 – 0. Mike, back from his paternity break, put in an encouraging performance down the left. He anticipated well to run onto Simon’s high through ball but his recent baby must have been keeping him up at nights and thus deprived him of that ounce of energy to get to the ball in time. Sloppy passing by Ng gave the ball away to their skilful striker, who then wriggled his way down their right flank like a slippery eel, with Ng already soundly beaten and Mike hugging the side line instead of challenging him. His movement into the box continued unimpeded and seeing Gan not advancing to narrow the angle, this striker beat Gan with a low blistering shot. 2 – 0!

Chor Guan, ever so eager to lend his lungs and limbs in attack, first tested SL’s keeper with a long range shot from a free-kick and then came close with a header at the far post to meet a corner from KH. He was later left unmarked again to head another corner, this time from Teck Wah, just wide off the post. We reduced the deficit, courtesy of Teck Chye’s persistence. His first header to meet a free kick went upwards but he regained his positional sense to have a 2nd bite of the cherry by heading the ball towards goal. That resulted in a goal mouth scramble and Chwee Leng had the final say to hook the ball into the net to make it 2 – 1 at half-time.

We resumed the match with a higher sense of purpose. See Chiang was put through down the left but his touches continued to desert him and instead of his famous toe-poke, he blasted the through ball over the bar. He atoned for his lacklustre display with finally a decent square pass across the box. Mike popped up at the far post to celebrate his 3rd-time fatherhood with our equalising goal, 2 – 2!  For a period we were enjoying the upperhand. Kian Hwa, replacing Chwee Leng, produced a well-timed run to meet Teck Wah’s through pass but his shot on the run was a bit hasty though it was not far off the mark. For this miss, Teck Chye continued to haunt Kian Hwa for failing to put us in the lead, which might have produced a different outcome. SL punished our lax marking in the box to get their 3rd goal when their striker rose unchallenged to meet a corner to head past Gan. 3 – 2. We almost produced an instant reply after Chor Guan brushed off his marker to cushion Teck Chye’s beautiful cross-field pass. Seeing the keeper way off his line, Chor Guan’s attempt to lob the keeper lacked the finesse of the lob-expert, Teck Chye and the effort went wide. Teck Chye had another attempt when he was first to meet a corner at the near post but he failed to direct the ball on target. We should be familiar with the pitch but our crosses from the flanks were simply over hit - once from Weng Khong in the 1st half from the right, Kian Hwa did likewise from the opposite flank in the 2nd half, or lacking accuracy as Simon twice failed to pick out his target in the box after breaking free on the right.

Our defence, anchored by Weng Kwan, worked overtime to repel SL’s incessant attacks. Their long-range shooter had a few tries at goal, each shot was packed with power but not the direction. On one occasion when the shot looked destined for goal, Gan produced a breathtaking tipping save to deny this midfielder of further glory. Nothing was to deny their 4th goal. SL striker’s sudden change of pace enable him to waltz past Weng Kwan and Hock Leong before placing the ball past Gan for their goal No 4. 4 – 2! Our final effort came off the left foot of Chor Guan, who ran from box to box throughout the match, and after seeing his final attempt go wide, the final whistle was blown. Another disappointing ending to the match and our dismal run continued.

Man of The Team: (5 out of 14 votes)

His earnest effort to get us back into the game was admirable. Chor Guan just nipped Gan by 1 vote:

1. “motm - chor guan....stamp his authority in both defence and midfield.........”

2. “motm: Chor Guan. Did overtime having to swat away numerous balls past our defense line. subsequently made his presence felt when pushed to midfield.”

3. “We are kind of leaky at the back but also due to the fact that the midfielders also didnt provide the first line of defend adequately. My MOTM will be the one who fight well in his role and he is Chor Guan.”

4. “Chor Guan for MoTM – our most attacking defender. Just count the number of scoring chances he had!
5. “MOTM is Chor Guan. CG harassed their midfield when placed there. Good all round display and nearly scored a last minute goal”

4 votes for Gan. 1 for each goal conceded? :)

1. “motm to gan - some assured takes and good judgement. little he could do about the well-taken goals by opponents.”

2. “MOTM is Gan - "made some good saves"

3. “MOM-Gan: what a wonderful world class save in the 2nd half.”

4. “MOTM - Despite letting in 4 goals, I still give my vote to Gan. Basically, I think all the outfield players did not featured significantly to win my vote. Gan volunteered to continue as keeper despite his itch to play outfield. Secondly, he did made a few saves, otherwise the scoreline will be even bigger. Lastly, Gan cannot be blamed for most of the goals.”

 

Teck Chye came in 3rd with 3 nominations:

1. “teck chye. hold the ball well, enjoy watching him dribble pass 2 to 3 defender quite a few time...”

2. “MOTM = Chye. Despite the lost, Chye showed his class and skills a more skillfull opposition. Create good chances out of nothing in numerous occassion but was unlucky not to have scored. Admired his ability in controlling the ball and picking up teamates with good passes.”

3. “Motm to teck chye, made a difference when he was playing, especially in midfield. Held on to ball well and disrupted their play and passing.”

1 each for Chwee Leng and Weng Kwan:

1. “Vote goes to Chwee Leng. On a day that most of us were off, he was playing at his top form.”

2. “MOTM goes to Weng Kuan for holding his defence line well & defending industriously”

Match #38 (16 Aug 09): 15 Minutes of Loss of Concentration Undid 45 Minutes of Good Work

It has become a familiar sight of late. We are a team of 2 halves – a decent team in one half, usually the 1st half; a team in self-destruction in the other half. The match against VS Staff, last match against Simply Red and now against AKFC – all the same, we threw away the lead and did injustice to ourselves. At the regularity we are failing to make good our lead and at the rate we are conceding goals, it is certainly an area of concern. We only had ourselves to kick for throwing this match away, not unlike how we fared against VS Staff after similarly securing a healthy 2-goals lead. 15 minutes were all what AKFC needed in the 2nd half to reverse the fortunes and turn the table around, from 2-nil down to a 3 – 2 lead. We had to dig deep to find the net the 3rd time to settle for a 3 – 3 draw. If there was any consolation, besides the fact that the opponent was a much younger team, it was the rare fact that our 3 forwards all scored. If there was anything alarming that we needed some soul-searching, it was our failure to maintain concentration and focus throughout the match. It didn’t help that we conceded the 3 goals when The Rock was sitting out. We certainly cannot afford to be over reliant on 1 or 2 players.

In fact, the way we ran rings round AKFC in the 1st half might leave everyone wondering which side supposedly had the oldies. Early in the match, we were denied a penalty when Teck Chye’s attempted cross from the left hit AKFC’s defender’s hand in the box but the referee ruled it unintentional. See Chiang, donning his lost-and-found beloved pair of boots, was anything but assured in his footing but he did set up Teck Wah nicely to tap in our opening goal, after the former was set up to embark on his run down the left flank. The left side of the pitch proved to be our rich harvest as Kian Hwa time and again stretched the right back, who twice brilliantly denied KH from putting the ball into the box with timely last-ditch tackles. One of the runs eventually yielded a long overdue goal for KH when he timed his run to perfection to receive Teck Wah’s through pass. Leaving the AKFC’s defenders in their wake and seeing their keeper rooting to his line, KH placed the ball to the far right side of the goal for a 2 – 0 lead. It was a long overdue striker-looking goal. Before our 2nd goal, KH broke through twice on the right but each time failed to set See Chiang up, who was lurking at the far post ready to pounce. Gan then headed the ball just above the bar. We kept up the tempo right till the half-time whistle when Melvin, left unmarked just outside the penalty box, received a long throw-in from the left and let fly a first-timer that screamed just wide off the post. We were not without our moments of scare at the back, despite Weng Kwan putting his best 45-minutes we have seen. Twice, Brandon was a step slower to meet a bouncing through ball, twice he was beaten to the ball but each time he was spared the embarrassment by our recovering defenders. A solo run by their forward beat Ng and Hock Leong along the way but from a tight angle, his shot came off the post. Apart from those, Weng Kwan and Hock Leong, aided superbly by our full-backs in Leo, Ng, Chung Wen and Chwee Leng, largely kept AKFC at bay.

2nd half was an entirely different story. AKFC seemed to have found a new source of vigour and they went on a rampage in the first 15 minutes of the 2nd half, during which they put 3 goals past us and left the stand-in stopper, See Chiang bewildered. We allowed their forward the luxury of time and space to twist and turn in the box before he shot past Brandon. 1 – 3. Their 2nd goal came from a sweet left-foot strike from outside the box, again courtesy of time and space accorded by us to their midfielder. 2 – 3! Beat the iron when it is hot, as the saying goes and AKFC did just that. AKFC’s left midfielder beat a totally-committed See Chiang just after the centre line and raced towards goal unimpeded. Brandon’s moment of hesitation to come off his line presented the quick-minded midfielder to shoot past the stranded Brandon to reverse the deficit into a 3 – 2 lead for them. As in recent matches, our passing went astray in the 2nd half and we only managed to threaten from dead-ball pieces. We won a series of free-kicks outside the box – Simon’s effort was not far off the goal frame and AKFC’s keeper produced fine saves to deny Melvin’s and Teck Wah’s attempts. On a rare occasion of successful passing leading to a penetration into the box, Teck Chye shot in haste instead of squaring the ball to Gan in the box. Showing disgust with himself, Teck Chye opted for a rest immediately after ruing his wasteful effort.

AKFC was enjoying the upperhand until Kian Hwa, who was largely subdued in the 2nd half, produced a moment of inspiration to deny AKFC a certain victory. Chwee Leng won the ball on the left midfield and laid the ball to KH down the left. On full throttle, KH swept past 2 defenders before, from the outside of his right foot, laying the ball across the box and Gan threw his entire weight forward to meet the ball, which bulged the net. 3 – 3 and Gan’s joyous expression echoed the jubilation of Marine Sunday!

Both sides continued to search for the winning goal. See Chiang’s famous toe-poke, which brought him goals in last 2 matches, failed this time round. Teck Chye had another chance to atone for his earlier miss from a similar position but his shot was a foot wide off the left post. AKFC almost had the final say of the match when their right midfielder was left unmarked in the box but Brandon brilliantly denied his low shot with a crisp dive to divert a certain goal away.

The final whistle came and both sides settled for a well-fought 3 – 3 draw!

Man of The Match: Kian Hwa (12 out of 15 votes)
For this season, a performance worthy of such overwhelming nominations is few and far in between. Hopefully, KH could be more consistent.
“kh. only thing i can remember the only one still running during the last 10 mins of the game is KH...”
“MOTM =Kian Hwa. Apart from the excellent solo run that result in beautiful cross for our equalizer, he did admirely well upfront in the first half and grabbed a well deserve goal. .”
“There's one man running tirelessly & ceaselessly to ensure we don't end on a losing note. A coolly taken goal & an even better assist makes KH my Motm!”
“motm - KH. never say die spirit that make him create the equaliser.”
“Motm: Kian Hwa. While everybody melted, he dug deep for that 50m solo run down the left beating 2 players and 1 important and precise assist for the 3rd goal.”
“MOM : My MOM is KH for his lung bursting runs on a hot day to create chances as well as to act as a extra defender sometimes. Notable contribution was the run to give us our equalising goal.”
“MOTM: At the last quarter of 2nd half, most of us were already kind of give it up mentally and physically when we were down by 1 goal. Suddenly, I saw a “never give up” figure chasing down a flank and make a remarkable cross which resulted in a goal. This is the kind of spirit I wanted to give my MOTM to. He is KH.”
“MoTM goes to kian Hwa. One goal and one assist. Scored the second goal from a tight angle after bursting down the left flank and the assist for goal number was a pinpoint cross after a even more determined and tenacious sprint down the same flank.”
“MOM: KH-made at least 4 runs down the left, giving the defender hell and making one goal assist.”
“KH - Speedy runs that led to great solo goal and last ditch equaliser for Gan. Plus he kept the energy level up on a day when most of us just couldn't string passes together.”
“I agree with Brandon though I'm not sure it's a 50m run but it is indeed a commendable, Usain Bolt-type of dash down the flank embarrasing our younger opponents in the process. As for the cross whipped in, it's just simply pinpoint, out-of-reach for the keeper & eluded their defence placed nicely in front of Gan. A much needed 3rd goal for Marine Sunday & credit should go to Gan as well for converting the cross. In case you are still confused, MOTM is KH.”
“MOTM - Everyone remembered his jingling run, down the flank and his cross for Gan to score. But how come nobody mentioned about the killer pass to him. Anyway, my nomination still goes to LKH for his never say die attitude.”

Weng Kwan came in 2nd with 2 votes:
“MOTM: Weng Kwan for a terrific 1st half performance covering and mopping up at the back. best 45 minutes I've seen him play. nothing was getting past him.”
“Whilst our defence missed Hock Leong for the first 15 minutes of the 2nd half, one man toiled silently throughout the match to repel their attacks. This silent workhorse is Weng Kwan and the MoTM.”

The Rock had just 1 nomination and it was enough to place him 3rd:
“MOTM to Hock Leong - Another solid display in central defence. Provided the extra punch in defence when our opponents were running non-stop”

Match #37 (11Aug 09): Another Agonising & Narrow Loss

Match report contributed by Leo

Simply Red started the game with 2 players short and that gave us an easy first 10 minutes. Chor Guan was red carded at this ground before, Ng had a fistfight here before and Teck Chye almost joined the ranks as well. He had to be calmed down but he refused to be taken off . True enough he managed to get his adversary to give him a body check right in front of the referee and got him sent off for a 2nd yellow card offence. Around the 30 minutes mark, against the run of play See Chiang scored the first goal of the game. I missed seeing the goal and when I asked See Chiang for a description, all he said was, just report that I scored with a “tonjoe”. See Chiang has for the 2nd time and 2nd week in a row hit the post again with his now famous “tonjoe”. Simply Red equalized before half time. The 2nd half was tough for us as all of us made a lot of uncharacteristic errors and did not have many scoring chances as our midfield and defence did not mange to move up into the opponent’s half to support the strikers. Simply Red scored the second goal and the game ended with a 2-1 defeat for us.

Some comments that I heard during and after the game :
We were beaten psychologically
The last time I played against this team, they took the corner flags out and fought with it.
5 of the opponents don’t wear shin guards, must be confident .
I had so much space and time to pass, don’t know why I underhit this time and over hit the next time.
Immediately after we scored the first goal, one of the opponent players on the touchline was talking to the “photographer who took our team photo: “This team is quite strong, they have a short passing game and then suddenly launch into attack.”

Man of The Team: (4 out of 13 votes)
Mr Rock returned with another solid performance:
“motm = hock leong. Make numerous good clearance that spoil opposition from scoring. Tough in the air and tackle well.”
“Hock leong the man. Defended stoutly. Super tackles and brilliant headers”
“Hock leong. He always gives his all whenever he plays, injured or not. I like his positioning and proved to be a major impediment to our opponent's movement in our half.”
“MOTM to hock leong for his all round and no nonsense play”

Chwee Leng is certainly revelling in his full-back role! Just 1 vote behind Hock Leong.
“chwee leng. consider see chiang and chwee leng, vote to chwee leng, saw him counter attack few times from our half all the way to their penalty box, do it more often next time....”
“Chwee Leng - stick to the striker as if they are glued together, never give him space to turn. Make a few good runs down the flank.”
“Another strong opponent with lots of stamina. My MOTM will be Chwee Leng who did well in defending as well as providing good attacks by bringing balls to the bye line of the other end for the strikers.”

See Chiang and Teck Chye had 2 votes each. Since SC scored for the 2nd successive match, he deserved to win the tie and a 3rd position:
“MOTM - See chiang, another good toe-poked goal, straight to the top of the net.”
“MOTM goes to See Chiang for scoring the spectacular & well-placed, top-left-hand-corner goal. By the way, he was having fever, cough & runny nose.”

The remaining 4 votes went to the Tang brothers and Leo:
“motm teck chye. showed lots of ball skills and running in the 1st half when the team was playing better.”
“MOM : Teck Chye for his tenacity in leading the line and adding an attacking thrust to our game.”
“MOM for 11 Aug-Teck Wah - never gave up running despite all the loose high balls and poor passes. Full marks for dedication”
“Motm to Leo for staying focused in a half when we were basically chasing shadows.”

Match #36 (9 Aug 09): Totally Outclassed But No Complains on Our Effort

The sight of Babylon trooping in dampened our festive mood of the long weekend. It was not so much of the fear for them but rather the extent of shadow-chasing that we knew we needed to put ourselves through against such quality opponent. True enough, their superior fitness and mobility, and of course not forgetting their technical skills, threatened to overrun us from the whistle. We managed to hold on but not for long. The inevitable breakthrough came when Kian Hwa, who so often chides at our defenders for poor marking, had a taste of his own medicine when he failed to track their right winger. Chor Guan retreated into the box to cover for KH's sloppiness but got himself entangled with the right winger instead. The referee saw it as an impediment and pointed to the spot. Despite the brave attempts by Ng to disrupt their penalty-taker, it was to no avail as Babylon's playmaker coolly converted the spot-kick. 1 – 0.

We should have been wise enough not to commit too many players upfront against such quick players but we did, and we were duly punished. They broke up our advance with ease and it took them only 3 passes to get the ball from their box to our box. Their right winger, who was on the receiving end of Ng's numerous hacking, had the last laugh as he raced miles ahead of the chasing Kian Hwa to receive a cross and tap the ball past Brandon. 2 – 0.

Babylon could have extended their lead but their left winger, perhaps due to complacency, blasted a sitter high over the bar even when Brandon was already beaten by the square pass prior to his shot. Brandon then came to the rescue of Marine Sunday with 2 brave blocks to limit the damage to 2 - 0 at half-time. We only came to life in the last 5 minutes of the half. First, Teck Wah managed to squeeze in a shot from a very tight angle and with their keeper closing down on him but his shot came off the right post. Then a decent move allowed Gan to make our only 2nd attempt at goal but it didn't really threaten.

We played a tighter game in the 2nd half, literally parking a bus in front of our box and restricting them to short passes. Our 2 full-backs did well to track their wingers and Babylon's various attempts to thread the ball through the middle were frustrated firstly by Simon and Melvin, and when they were beaten, Weng Kwan and Chor Guan mopped up the loose balls. Babylon also decided to ease off their closing down on us and that allowed us some breathing space to hold on to the ball. Simon shot directly at the keeper from outside the box after being set up by Kian Hwa. See Chiang hit the post once but he was well placed to score our consolation goal. A heavy challenge on Gan in the box spun the ball loose and See Chiang possessed all the predatory instincts to pounce on it. 2 – 1. A moment of static defending allowed Babylon to extend their lead when an offside call backfired at our own players. Thinking the ball would be out of play, our defenders stood to watch the ball rolling out but Babylon's tall striker had other idea. He raced to recover the ball before it went over the line and squared it low for his supporting forward to tap in, all the while our defenders were standing there rooted and perhaps admiring their movement. 3 - 1!

The Tang brothers came back into the game and they added extra impetus into our play. Teck Chye gallantly took them on with his close ball control. Teck Wah then missed a perfect opportunity to register himself in the score sheet. The industrious Gan turned his marker well and put in a low cross for Teck Wah, who got ahead of the defender to receive the ball but could not connect with it cleanly. The ball came off his shin and went agonisingly wide off the right post. In the process, Teck Wah's shin also took out their goalkeeper. Simon had another attempt at goal when he controlled the ball well outside the box and produced a delicate lob over the replacement keeper but the ball was just a couple of inches too high above the bar. At the other end, Brandon produced another couple of fine saves to keep them at bay – an audacious one-handed scoop of the looping ball after it ricocheted off Weng Kwan’s foot and then diving well to his left to block a low shot.

Undoubtedly, Babylon had the lion share of the possession but our effort could not be undermined. Final score: 3 - 1.

Man of The Team: Chor Guan (3 out of 14 votes)
Competition for the MoTT was very tight and 12 out of 14 votes went to our defence line, including keeper. Chor Guan’s never-say-die attitude won him the plaudits:
“3 players were in contention for my vote – Brandon, Chor Guan & Gan. Brandon’s in-form continued into this match and I would love to see more consistency in his form. Gan is just like Dirk Kuyt, working non-stop upfront and most of the times on his own. If he could beef up a bit, defenders would find him harder to handle. Chor Guan is a cool cucumber with a level-headed mind. He was eager to get back something despite the odds. His request to play stopper in 2nd half aided our sporadic attack but also showed how sure-footed he is. Deliberated in past 24 hours, MoTM goes to Chor Guan!”
“Chor Guan - outstanding performance supporting the attack and defends. Special mention to See Chiang, if he have score the goal when we were 2-0 down, the score line might be different.”
“motm = chor guan. Solid at the back and cut down opposition chances to minimum. Occasionally join in the attack and make quite a few dangerous runs in opposition half.”

4 players – Chwee Leng, Leo, Brandon and See Chiang had 2 votes each. I put our 2 full-backs in the top 3. 2nd position goes to Chwee Leng for stepping up to instill some confidence and direct play at the back. He tracked the left winger well. On the opposite full-back, Leo was just as assuring in his clearances and interceptions. Overall, great credits to our defence!

2nd: Chwee Leng
“Motm to leng for another perceptive performance at right back throughout the match. Leo's 15min in the second half was absolutely impressive, full of conviction & read babylon's moves spot on.”
“Motm was Chwee Leng. Consistent performance in this game, few who are not overawed by the fancied opponents.”

3rd: Leo
“one of the many games this year where it gets really difficult to choose a motm cos probably the whole team didn't play well nor did any single player shine. I'll go for Leo since when he played the 20 minutes or so in each half, the opponents did not score.”
“leo. defend and read the game well, make few good clearance”

Brandon, See Chiang, Ng, Teck Chye and Gan mopped up the remaining 7 votes:
“MOM : The team worked hard and had a sense of tactical discipline during some parts of the game during which we had some good breakaways . My MOM is Brandon for some of the great saves he made to keep the scoreline respectable and gave us a chance to close the gap.”
“MOM for 9 Aug-Brandon: could not blame him for the goals but the stops were top class.”
“MOtM is See Chiang - good effort running the channels on the wing.”
“MOTM for 9 Aug game - See Chiang, for his all round play as stopper and then at left mid culmulating with the consolation goal and one hitting the post. Good job!!!”
“Ng has my vote. You can see he desperately wanted to stamp his presence against a tricky winger who never got past him while Ng was at left back. If anybody, he set the mood and the opponent winger was seen pushing Ng in the back in frustration and even played in a different position in the second half. Ng, just a 10% less aggressive play would have been perfect. And where did Mel find his running legs these past few games?”
“TC stood out for me. He fought hard and the few chance we had started with him”
“This was the game where everyone needed to play extra hard and with discipline in order to stand some winning chances. My MOM would be Gan as he did show both qualities despite some chances that he missed.”

Match #35 (1 Aug 09): So Close, But Never Meant To Be!

Victoria School remains a blessed ground for VS Staff and by that, VS Staff remain our nemesis, one that we just fail to beat. It was a match that we let it slip off our grip. Yes, VS Staff had to, similarly to our previous encounter, thank their 2nd half keeper for brilliantly denying us on 3 occasions. But we should not have let a healthy 3 – 1 lead being snatched from under our noses to end up with a 3 – 3 draw. We could have done better in closing down their play, especially their front duo – No 5 and No 7, who continued to terrorise us with their clever off-the-ball running to shake off our marking effectively. VS Staff’s football was simple, which was just to get the ball to either of these 2 front men and let them finish the job. Indeed, they did just so with devastating effect. Both played a significant role in all the 3 VS Staff goals.

Last-minute withdrawals of players forced us to call up a guest player in Woon and to ask Brandon, who was suffering from gout, to play through the pain barrier. We started off lively. Kian Hwa twice set up from the left but neither effort was capitalised by the forwards. Our game plan was to close down on both No 5 & 7 but we came up short in stopping the supply to them. Notwithstanding his irritating style of play, one has to give credit to No 7 for his constant off-the-ball running and superbly making use of his low centre of gravity to turn his markers well. One such swift turn left Hock Leong rooted and No 7 cruised on unimpeded into the box before squaring the ball across the six-yard box for No 5 to tap in for their lead. 0 – 1! The Teck Wah-Gan partnership reigned supreme in the 1st half. First, Gan put in a long cross from the right into the box, aiming at Teck Wah running in from the blind side. Teck Wah connected with the ball well but the effort went wide. Teck Wah then returned favour by setting up Gan in the box with a diagonal pass and the latter’s snap low shot beat the keeper flat for our equaliser. 1 – 1! We seized the lead shortly after our equaliser. Gan and VS Staff’s defender tussled for See Chiang’s cross from the right and Kian Hwa pounced onto the poorly-cleared ball in the box. See Chiang spared KH’s embarrassing shot by meeting the miscued ball at the far right post to squeeze the ball into the net from a very tight angle. 2 – 1! Teck Chye then did his twist-and-turn in the middle of the park before chipping the ball over the flat-footed defence for Teck Wah to run on and lob the ball over the keeper for our 3rd goal. 3 – 1. The Tang brothers set an identical effort moments later but this time round, Teck Wah fashioned himself to be a rugby player. 3 – 1 at half-time, in our favour.

2nd-half was a showcase for both goalkeepers. VS Staff’s replacement keeper was a class act with 3 breathtaking saves to deny us. On the other hand, VS Staff kept peppering at our goal with high balls into the box, hoping to capitalise on Brandon’s tentativeness shown in the previous encounter but they found a different Brandon in this match. Brandon was up to the challenge with every high ball and cross. Apart from dealing the high balls with newly found confidence, he twice came off the line to smother their through balls and prevent any further damage. First, he went down well onto his left to gather a through ball cleanly. The second effort forced their No 5 to take a detour, thereby denying their No 5 to have a clean shot at goal. Still, nothing could really stop No 5 and No 7 from punishing us dearly for failing to anticipate their moves. No 7’s lightning-fast turn allowed him to flash past Weng Kwan and his square pass was turned into the own net by our Ng. No 7 was then at the receiving end to produce a simple tap-in when No 5 broke our offside line to receive a free-kick at the far post. No 5 had plenty of time to look up and pick out No 7 with a simple square pass.

Before VS Staff’s 2 goals, we were dubiously denied by the referee for a legitimate penalty. Gan’s powerful header brought out a point-blank reflex save from the keeper. Kian Hwa attempted to follow up but he was tripped in the box from behind by VS Staff’s midfielder. To everybody’s bewilderment, the referee blew for a corner instead as the last touch came off Kian Hwa as he was falling down. Teck Chye had 2 certain goals denied by VS Staff’s keeper. His first effort was a stiff grounder that came off a VS Staff’s defender. Though their keeper was already wrong-footed, he managed to twist his body to the other side to palm the diverted ball out for a corner. We could not believe our luck when another Teck Chye shot brought out another top-class save from their keeper, whose smart dive to his right steered Teck Chye’s low shot away to safety.

The closely-matched encounter ended 3 – 3.

Man of The Match: Gan (3 out of 13 votes)
Both Gan and Melvin tied at 3 votes each. I had to break the impasse and so tossed the coin, which turned out to be in Gan’s favour. I suppose strikers always end up in a more advantageous position when it comes to a situation like his, especially when he has scored a superb goal. So, Gan was the MoTM!
“MOTM for saturday game- Gan. a well controlled and brilliant first goal. Great goal to start a 3 goal rush for Marine Sunday”
“MOTM: The goal scored by Gan was spectacular and did make a difference for boosting the team’s morale to fight harder in the attack for the first half of the game. Besides, he had worked quite hard in the game as well. He has vote for the man of the match.”
“MOTM 1 aug: My vote for Gan. He made his presence felt, always looking for the ball, drawing 2-3 defenders freeing much needed space for others, calm execution of his goal, looking for space to set Wah up and good fitness throughout the game capped off his improving game. As we all every know about Chye and I don't mean to blow too much smoke up his ass but he and Melvin are masters at the feint and turn. I distinctly remember Chye's right footed flick of the ball to the left and then a left footed flick past the defender to the right all in 1 move. You practise that move everyday in your bathroom or what?”

His slimmer frame is not only attracting attention from the Thai workers but nominations as well. Melvin came in second, just lost out by a hair’s breadth:
“MOTM for 1/8 goes to Melvin. Excellent control of the defence line and really gave the opposition no. 7 a hard time. Played smartly and tactful despite lack of pace.”
“motm - melvin make few good pass and result in goal , also support defence well.”
“Motm - Melvin. losing weight helps a lot in his play and was supporting attack and tracking back in defence and making necessary fouls well.”

2 votes went to Teck Chye and that made him 3rd:
“Motm to chye. His moments on the field was full of endeavor & perceptive passes. Involved in all 3 goals.”
“MOM for 1 Aug: Chye-made a couple for wonderful passes that resulted in the goals.”

The remaining 5 votes went to the following 5 players:
“Hard to choose. Everyone played well but we were let down by lapses in concentration. The way we put three past them in quick succession was quite stunning. BUt we let them claw back just asy quickly. And all their goals came from the same set-up. Easy ball wide and chap strolls in before stroking for their forward for easy job. So my MOTM goes to the guys upfront who were really fired up. We had a few missed opportunities only cos their keper pulled off stunning saves. Teck Wah really stood out with his runs and positional play. He should have scored more but their stand-in keeper was brilliant.”
“MOTM goes to Weng Khong for working very hard in the midfield to harrass the opponents.”
“Motm: Simon. obviously itching to play after sitting out the past few games and showed he hasn't lost the touch with some very pinpoint passes and balls over the defense line for the forwards.”
“On a match like this, there are many heroes. We played as a team and should have won the match that we badly craved for. My MOTM goes to Ng, not for his fantastic all round play, but for turning up depsite his injury, and most important of all, for his no nonsense tackle on the no. 7 at the bye line. That was worth my vote.”
“Torn between Teck Chye and Brandon. Teck Chye was simply brilliant. Pin-point passes and so cruelly denied of goals! Brandon could have done better with his position at near post and covering angle but despite opponent peppering him with crosses, he dealt with them cleanly. Twice in the 2nd half, he came off his line fast – first time got down well on his left to collect a through ball cleanly; the second forcing their danger man, who was through on a one-on-one, to go wide. My vote goes to Brandon for his renewed confidence, for erasing the ghost of the embarrassing display in the previous match against the same opponent.”